Obama Aide Brennan Presses Yemen Leadership for Political Change

July 12 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s top
counterterrorism aide met with senior Yemeni officials in
Sana’a, the capital, a day after urging President Ali Abdullah
Saleh to honor a promise to end his three-decade rule.

John Brennan, Obama’s assistant for counterterrorism and
homeland security, met yesterday with Vice President Abed Rabbo
Mansur Hadi, the state-run Saba news agency reported. He also
held talks with the chief of general staff, Ahmed al-Ashwal;
Ahmed Saleh, a son of Saleh who heads the Republican Guards; and
Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi, with whom he discussed a
proposal by the Gulf Cooperation Council for Saleh to step down.

In Saudi Arabia on July 10, Brennan asked Saleh “to
fulfill expeditiously his pledge to sign the GCC-brokered
agreement for peaceful and constitutional political transition
in Yemen,” according to a White House statement on July 10.
Saleh is in Riyadh recovering from injuries sustained during a
June 3 attack on his presidential compound in Sana’a.

The White House had no comment on Brennan’s meetings in
Sana’a.

Tens of thousands protested yesterday in Sana’a, Taiz and
other cities to denounce U.S.-Saudi interference and urge the
Saudi government to hand Saleh over for prosecution. They also
demanded the removal of Saleh’s relatives from government
positions and the formation of a transitional council to run the
Arab Peninsula nation.

Pro-democracy protesters have called for an end to Saleh’s
rule since January. Hundreds of people have died in clashes
between activists and government forces since then as Yemen’s
economy and security worsens. Saleh has refused to sign the GCC
plan on three occasions since May, after initially backing it.

Saleh Plans Return

Saleh will return to Yemen on July 17, the 33rd anniversary
of his taking office, Al Arabiya television said over the
weekend, citing an unidentified official. Saleh chose that date
to send a message that he’s still the legitimate president of
Yemen until September 2013, Al Arabiya cited the official as
saying.

The GCC accord requires Saleh to step down within 30 days
of it being signed and hand power over to his deputy in exchange
for immunity from prosecution. The handover would be followed by
elections.

Once the pledge is signed, “much needed assistance will
flow to Yemen,” according to the July 10th U.S. statement.
“The United States believes that a transition in Yemen should
begin immediately so that the Yemeni people can realize their
aspirations.”

Resolving the Crisis

Brennan “emphasized the importance of resolving the
political crisis in Sana’a” and wished Saleh “a speedy
recovery,” according to the statement. He also reiterated the
U.S. government’s condemnation of the attack on Saleh.

Hundreds of Yemeni citizens have been killed in attacks by
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the statement said. An end to
the political crisis is needed “so that the Yemeni government
and people can successfully confront the serious challenges they
face,” it said.

Forces in the province of Abyan killed four al-Qaeda
militants and wounded two others in clashes, Saba said July 10.
A Yemeni soldier was also killed and four others injured in the
fight, it said.